The configuration of events and cell growth activity in the storeyed cambium of the linden (Tilia cordata Mill.)

Abstract

A sample of wood from the trunk of the studied linden showed a periodic change in the orientation of the grain, occurring in an approximately two-year cycle. These changes in the grain were accompanied by cyclic changes in the configuration of events in the rays, that is, in the splitting and uniting of rays in the cambium. Intrusive growth on the lateral, radial edges near the ends of fusiform cells caused the translocation of cells on the storey borders, resulting in the splitting and uniting of rays. The growth activity of fusiform cells was determined on the basis of analysis of events in the rays through comparison of successive layers of the terminal parenchyma of the wood. Grouping of the ends of intrusively growing cells occurred here. The distribution of growth activity on the surface of the cambium was not uniform. It was possible to identify areas of cambium significantly differing from each other in respect to the duration of their growth activity. This period did not coincide with the duration of the cycle of changes in the configuration of events.